Muscle Mass yearlings should be keenly sought after

Next weeks round of the harness racing sales has quite a few entries by the son of Muscles Yankee in Muscle Mass.

Muscle Mass 1:53.8 ($229,000) won eight of twelve on the track before being injured with the highlight being his win in 1:53.8 at his second lifetime start at two.

Muscle Mass is bred in the purple with elite level horses everywhere in his pedigree.

His dam is Graceful Touch 1:56 ($192,000) by Pine Chip whose first six foals all went through the sales ring at either Harrisburg or Lexington and as you can see from the list below were keenly sought after.

Muscle Mass by Muscles Yankee  –  $100,000

Touchdown Town by Muscles Yankee  –  $320,000 

Muscle Massive by Muscles Yankee  –  $425,000

Thatsnotmyname by Windsongs Legacy  –  $250,000

Graceful Kelly by Muscles Yankee  –  $145,000

Mr Lucky Luke by Lucky Chucky  –  $450,000 

Graceful Touch is one of only two foals from the high class Valley Victory mare in Act Of Grace 1:52.3 ($403,525) with the other being her full brother in Cobol 1:54 ($417,457) 

With his pedigree and two year old speed, Muscle Mass was always going to be given his chance at stud in North America and he went to stud in 2009 in Canada.

Right from the start Muscle Mass has shown the ability to leave elite level trotters and with his first crop just turned five, he already has $8,479,420 in stake earnings on his card.

In the season just completed in North America Muscle Mass finished seventh on the three year old sires list ahead of such outstanding sires as Kadabra, Angus Hall, Muscles Yankee and Majestic Son.

Last season Muscle Mass made the move to Blue Chip Farms in New York where he stands at a fee of $6,000 which is an indication of his standing now in the stallion ranks in North America.

His full brother Muscle Massive 1:51 ($1,245,297) made a great start at stud last year with his two year olds finishing fifth on the two year old siring charts in his debut season.

Available to New Zealand breeders via frozen semen in 2009/2010, the first and only crop to date of Muscle Mass old enough to race in New Zealand were born in the 2010/2011 season.

Numbering just five live foals, that number is now four with Massuci having died.

The remaining four foals are now four year olds and are all mares.

Below is a record of their racing careers to date.

Zheyna – 18 starts – 3 wins – 2 seconds – 4 thirds – Stakes $21,764

Mass Invasion – 12 starts – 1 win – 4 seconds – 1 third – Stakes $9433

Schleck – 6 starts – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds – Stakes $16,439

K D Muscles 16 starts – 0 wins – 4 seconds – 3 thirds – Stakes $40,297

K D Muscles would have to be the biggest stakes winning maiden trotter in New Zealand having run second to Majestic Time in the the $25,000 New Zealand Trotting Oaks in a 2:00 mile rate and second to Thebestlove in the $97,500 Sales Trot in a 1:59.9 mile rate  .

Four foals for four lovely mares is not a bad start however you look at it.

Unavailable for the 2010/2011 and 2011/ 2012 seasons, Muscle Mass shuttled to New Zealand in the 2012/2013 season and served a healthy book of 71 mares on the back of the performance of his handful of foals from his first crop.

Now yearlings, this crop numbers 55 and Muscle Mass did cover some lovely trotting mares in the one year he shuttled here.

It was a no show again in 2013/2014 and 2014/ 2015 so if you want a son or daughter of Muscle Mass, this years yearling sales might be your last opportunity in the foreseeable future to acquire one.

Harnesslink Media